Delivery mechanism for platen-presses.



-L. E. MORRISON. I DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PLATEN PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED MAE.6, 1908.

Ptented May 7, 1912.

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P1 91 fmomco' 45" L. E. MORRISON.- DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PLATENPRBSSES'. APPLICATION FILED MARfi, 1908-.

1%025A18, Patented May 'F, 1912.

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LEWIS E. MORRISON, or NEWARK, NEW JEn-sEY, ASSIGNOR T0 HIMSELF ANDivm'rrnms PLUM, or NEWARK; NEW JERSEY.

DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PLATEN-PRESSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 6, 1908. Serial No. 419,480.

Patented May '7, 1912.

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, LEWIS E. Monnisoiv, a citizen of the United Statesof America, and a resident of Newark, Essex county, New Jersey, haveinve ited certain new and useful Improvements inDelivery Mechanism forllaten-Presse's, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to delivery mechanism for printing machines andmore particularly to a delivery mechanism for use on platen presseshaving a movable or oscillating platen. Such machines are generallycalled job presses and the sheet or other matter to be printed is fed tothe platen by hand and also removed by hand, so that the speed of thepress is dependent upon that of the operator.

The present invention enables the operator to confine his attention tothe feed only, hence the machine can be run faster and accidents are notso liable to occur, as when the operator is compelled to put both handson the platen at the same time.

The invention comprises a gripper mechanism forseizing and removing theprinted sheet from the platen, and such other elements or parts as arenecessary tdbperate the grippers; it should be noted, however, that oneof the main advantages and features of this invention resides in thefact, that it can be applied to the press very quickly, and does notdemand any changes in the original construction thereof.

In th following specification this-invention is fully disclosed, and theaccompany-- ing drawings illustrate the preferred form thereof. 7 y

In the said drawings Figure 1 is"a side view of a platen press with oneof the side frames removed and equipped with a delivery mechanismembodying my invention;

' Fig. 2 is a front view showing the gripping of the grippers detached.

mechanism;.. Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of one of thegrippers and adjacent parts; and Fig. 4: is a side view of one Referringmore particularly to Fig. l, the reference numeral 1 indicates the sideframe of the press, the oscillatingform carr-ier, which is operated byconnecting rod 3 pivoted to gear 4:, which is driven by pinion 5 on thedriving shaft 6.

7 is the platen which is oscillated in the usual manner to cooperatewith the forum member.

In Fig. 1 the press is shown open or ready to receive the sheet in fulllines; and in dotted lines are shown the positions of the differentparts when the impression is on.

The parts so far described are found on all presses of this type and Ineed not go into detail about the various parts or their operation, asthese things are well known in the art and form no part ofv myinvention.

On the frame of the press are mounted two brackets 8, 8 which support afeed table 9 upon which are placed the sheets to be 11, one on each,side, which are joined by thegripper bar 12. This latter'is providedwith slots 13 so that the grippers can be adjusted transversely andfastened by bolts 14, see Fig. 4i The carriage is reciprocated by meansof the oscillating. arms 15, 15 pivoted on shaft .16, which is mountedin braclrets 17. One of the arms 15 carries a short arm 18 which isconnected at 19 to the connecting ing rod reciprocates the arms 15oscillate on the shaft 16, and the gripper carriage is reciprocatedtoward and awayv from the platen. The arms'15 are connectedfto-theslides 11 by slots 21 and studs 22; see Fig. 3.

The grippers are guided by havingtheslid'es 11 slide on the arms 23, 23,which are PIV':

otcd at 24: onthe brackets 8 and whieh .,fol-

low the movements of the, platen by resting on the rollers on each side.I

The illustration shown in Fig. l of the gripper motion can now beunderstood. The.

grip ers are there shown in full lines as havmg 0 osed on a sheet on theplaten and in 25 fastened on the latter, one

I rod 3 by the lever 20, so that as the conneot- 'See Fig. 3.

dotted lines is shown the extreme forward position of the arm 15 and thegripper car'- riage and grippers. The short arm 18 is.

lower gripper jaw 26 which. rear end is thinned down as at 27 to enableit to pass close over the surface of the platen and under the printedsheet, it being understood,

that the latter is usually raised slightly from' the platen by pasting apiece of paper or ca. "5. board on the latter. The upper gripper jaw 28is pivoted on the lower one at 29 and is also thinned as shown. The tailportion 30 of the upper gripper jaw is raised above the lower jaw and aspring 31 presses against this raised portion and tends to keep thegrippers closed. At the rear of the lower aw is mounted a sliding member32 provided with a slot- 33 and guided in its movements by the pins 34,which latter are fast in the lower jaw and which. limit the motion ofthe slide 32. A spring 35 exerts a steady pull on the slide toward theupper gripper jaw. A gripper closing member 36 is carried by the slide32 by being held by friction in the split sleeve 37 of the slide. Thelower gripper jaw is provided with a slot 10 to admit of adjustment atright angles to the bar 12.

The grippers are opened by means of a rod 38 which extends across themachine and is carried by lugs 39 having slots 41 so that the positionof the rod 38 may be adjusted. The lugs 89 are fastened to the arms 23and move therewith; only the parts on the one side are shown, as theyare alike on both sides. Attention is called to the positionsof theuppergripper jaw in Figs. 3 and 4. In the former the gripper is shownopen, in the latter the gripper is closed.

The operation is as follmvs: Suppose that the press is open and that theoperator is placing a sheet upon the platen,the positions of the variousparts will then be as shown in. full lines in Fig. 1. The platen nowmoves down, coacts with the form and the sheet is printed',see dottedlines Fig. 1. As the platen returns with the printed sheet, the grippersare moved toward it, each gripper being in the position shown in Fig. 8,in which it should be noted that the upper jaw 28 is held open by reasonof the fact that the slide 32 overlaps the tail 30 of the upper jaw, thespring 35 holding the slide in this position. In other words, when thegrippers move toward the platen, they .are open. The parts are so timed,that the have passed between the platen and the printed sheet. At thismoment, however, the member 36 will abut the edge of the platen and isforced back carrying the slide 32 with it, thus releasin the uppergripper jaw, which by reason 0% the spring 31v will close'onthe sheet,and is also held closed by the slide 32, which abuts the tail 30 by theforce of the spring 31 as see'n in Fig. 4. The platen now commences itsrearward stroke, and the grippers remove the sheet therefrom. It shouldhe noted, that/the grippers do not pull the sheet from the platen by amovement parallel to the surface thereof, but as the grippers withdraw,they are also raised by the arms 23 and the removal of the sheet takesplace quicker, giving the operator ample time to place a fresh sheet onthe platen, before the latter moves dmvn.

. Almost at the endof the forward stroke of the gripper, the upper jawwill encounter the rod 38, as shown in Fig. 4, and as the gripperscontinue to move forward the tail. 30 will be depressed by the, rod 38,gently opening the grippers until the tail. snaps under the end of theslide and the grippers are fully opened and the sheet has been droppedin the receptacle 50. The operation is now repeated and the grippersmoved rearward in; order to remove the next sheet from the platen, andit will be seen. from Fig. 4 that the open gripper will pass under therod-38 without contacting therewith.

The following facts should be kept in mind for fully understanding theabove described operation. The motion of the grippers is rectilinear onthe oscillating :HIllr; 23 by reason of the pin and slot conneellmisbetween the said arms and the swinging arms 15, so that the gripperspartly raise the sheet in. removing the same from the platen, this givesthe operator ample time to feed a fresh sheet to the press. lit has alsobeen stated that the gri 'ipers are adjustable transversely on and atright. angles to the liar l2, and the grippers may be tired to reach wayin on the platen to grip a small card, or they may be :nljusled to justoverlap the edge of the platen to seize a large sheet. Correspondingwith the position of the grippers will be the position of the closingmember 36. lf a small card or envelop is printed, the grippers mustreach far in over the platen in order to seize it. consequently themember 36 will be pushed closer to the bar 12 to close the El'l'llllltlSlater than when a large sheet is handled,

in which instance the member I36 will be adjusted to close the grippersearly. ll. however, the member 36 should be ad usted too far away fromthe bar 12 and hitslhe platen llli ' the sleeve holds the member'36 fastenough, i so that it will perform its function when properlyv adjusted.Inasmuch as the grip- :pers may assume different positions with 9relation to the bar 12, it will be clear. that the opening rod 38 mustbe adjustably ear-- ried in the lugs 39, so that the grippers will beopened at the proper time to deposit the sheet.

This invention is thought to be clear from the foregoingand .it will beseen that it is readily put on the press and that the constriction'ofthe latteris not changed, also that t? e delivery takes place under thefeed table and the printed-sheets may easily be removed. v

I donot limit myself to the exact form shown,-as changes may bemadewithin the scope of the claims. i

I claim: t i 1. The combination of a platen press having a movableplaten, delivery grippers,

means carried by the said delivery grippers tor closing the same bycontact with the said platen, guiding means for said grippers and meansmounted on the said guidxing means for opening the delivery grippers ata predetermined point.

2. A delivery gripping mechanism for platen presses comprising a pair ofoscillating levers, grippers mounteslto reciprocate on said levers,means for closing said grip; pers, means for opening said grippers thesaid opening means being adjustably mounted on the aforesaid oscillatinglevers.

3.;A delivery gripper to. printing ma chines-comprising a lower gripperjaw, an upper pivoted gripper jaw, means interposed between the said'jaws forv normally closing the same, a spring actuated sliding memberfor keeping the upper jaw in. open position during. given periodsandmeans carried by said sliding'mmber .for closing I scr bed means, agripper carriage movable on said the said gripper. 7:

4. Agripping mechanism, of the class de comprising oscillating guidingguiding means, grippers carried by thesaid CHI'I'ItIgG, means'carr1age,means=for adjusting the said grippers'transversely .onthe saidcarriage and atrright angles thereto, means for closingthe said grippersand means for opening 'thesame.'f v

5. A gripping mechanism of the class described comprising oscillatingguiding means,-a gripper carriage movable on said guiding means,g'rippers carried by the said foradjusting the said grip perstransversely on the said carriage and ,55; ai right angles thereto,means for closing the s'afid grippers and means for openingthe same, thesaid opening maiisbein'g carried by the said guiding means.

6. The combination with 'a platen press having a movable platen, pivotedlevers adapted to co-a'ct with said platen, a gripper carriage slidablymounted on said levers,

and means for opening saidgrippers adjustably carried by the saidlevers.

7. The combination with a, platen press having a movable plat-en,pivoted levers. adapted to be oscillated by said platen, dcliverygrippers movably supported by the said levers, means carried by the saidgrippers for closing the same by contact with 'the said platen, meansfor reciprocating the said grippers and means carried'by the said leversfor opening the said grippers 8. The combination of a platen presshaving amovable platen, a movable form member, delivery grippers, meansinterposed between-the said form member and the said grippers forreciprocating the latter and means interposed between the said platen 9.The combination of a platen press having a movable p'laten,fia pair ofpivoted levers, means for oscillating the latter by the said-platen, agripper carriage supported 'ria e and at ri ht an les thereto a movableb D D levers by the said form member and means carried by the saidpivoted levers for open' 'ing the said grippers.

j 10. A gripping mechanism of the .class described comprisingoscillating guiding means, a gripper carriage slidably supported on thesaid means, grippers carried by thereon. rv 12. The combinatiqn'of aplaten press comprising an uppers and a lower gripper aw, ashde forlooking the upper gripper aw.mnpengposition, a springfor causing siidsliidetrowiact and a member carried bygrippers on said carriage, meansfor closing said grippers by contact with the said platen said carriage,means for adjusting the said.

grippers toward and away from' the said guiding means, and means for adust-ingthe the said guiding means and adjustable and the said grippersfor oscillating the I by the said levers, means for adjusting the saidgrippers transversely-' upon said carform member, means forreciprocatingthe said gripper carriage on the said pivoted having a movable pIaten,delivery grippers ia o said gripper by conplaten to force the the pullof the said said slide for closing taeting with the said said slide backagainst spring.

13. The combination of a platen press having a movable platen, deliverygrippers comprising an upper movable and a lower fixed gripper jaw, aslide carried by the said lower for locking the upper jaw in openposition, a spring for causing the said slide to-act and a memberfrictionally carried by the said slide for closing the said uppergripper jaw by contacting with the platen to force the slide backagainst the pull of the said spring,

14. A gripping mechanism for printing machines comprising areciprocating carriage, grippers thereon and consisting of a fixed lowerJew and a movable upper jaw, a Slldlflg member carried by the said lowermovable members,

jaw, a spring interposed between the'latter and the said slide, aineniber held in i'rictional contact with the said slide and adapted toforce the latter away from the said upper gripper jaw to close the same.

15. The combination of a movable platen, movable members eoacting withthe same, a gripping mechanism carried by the said other members held infrictional engagement with the said gripping mechanism and adapted toeoact with the platen to close the grippers and means for reciprocatingthe said gripping mechanism.

Signed at Newark, N. February 1908.

J. this 29th day of as LEWIS E. MORRISON.

Witnesses v Cn'As. E. DANIEL, FREDERIG J. ARNOLD.

